I discovered what appears to be the only bar in my current country of residence that specializes in Peruvian pisco in December 2022. At first I went just to try a pisco sour, which I’ve long been interested in. After getting the chance to revisit it over the holidays, I experimented with different varieties and ways of serving it, and realized a short tonic is my favorite way to drink it without masking its natural flavor.
Previously, I mainly enjoyed cocktails and didn’t have any particular favorite spirit, so this is all very new to me. Should I be taking every opportunity I can to inform people of my fondness for pisco and how my refined tastes are beyond the comprehension of the plebs who enjoy lesser drinks like beer, wine, or vodka? Just how far should I go? Am I now required to be a dick to Chileans and go out of my way to remind them that their pisco is shit, an opinion that I certainly have come to after extensive research and experimentation to form my own judgement, and am absolutely not parroting from opinionated reply guys? Are there any gender studies scholars who can help me with this?
you should hold tasting parties in your swanky studio apartment. start wearing a silk bathrobe.
I can’t afford a silk bathrobe. I may be middle-aged, but I’m still a millennial.
Synthetic is fine
I went to Peru once with one of those “backpacker,” “travel the world,” “international citizen” type white guys, I think you know the type. He had been to Peru a few times. Anyway most restaurants in Lima would serve you complimentary pisco sours and oh my god this dude would not shut up about pisco sours.
“What do you think?”
“Yeah pretty good.”
“Oh, dude, you think that’s good? No, I need to take you to this place I found the last time I was here, where they serve the best pisco sours. These aren’t even that good.” or “No man, I’m taking you to this bar I know after this, where they serve real pisco sours.”
For some reason every pisco sour would always pale in comparison to some other pisco sour this guy tried. “Oh yeah it’s pretty good but when I was here last time the pisco sours were so much better.” Goddamn insufferable. I don’t even like alcohol that much, I only drank them because they were complimentary.
Anyway we went up into the mountains after that where they had coca sours. Still not a big fan of alcohol, but I thought that was cool.
It’s this weird desire to prove one’s “authentic” tastes
Chasing the dragon lmao
Yes
(I am desperately trying to find a source for lambic that isn’t practically fruit syrup)
lambic
try shakespeare
lambic
Is that the bird shit beer?
It’s the beer where fermentation is induced by natural yeast floating around in one valley in Belgium. It also, and this is important, only uses enough hops to preserve the beer, so it doesn’t taste like licking a freshly polished hard-wood floor.
Yes, and you should consider looking into micro brewing it yourself.
Bullying Chileans is just good practice regardless
Even if they’re comrades?
comrades get good natured ribbing about not inventing pisco and still having a fascist constitution
Am I, as a middle-aged man, now required to base my entire personality around it?
Yes, along with a midlife crisis that includes buying a sportscar or motorcycle and dating a younger woman. It will make your transition from millennial to
complete.I can’t afford any car, let alone a sportscar, and I’m gay af, so I guess I’m stuck as a millennial.
Dude millennials can’t afford a midlife crisis
My boss does. Honestly he doesn’t sht up about pisco sours
Peruvian is the kind that doesn’t use barrel aging, right?
I don’t drink pisco very often, but I generally like brandy. I think (though have not confirmed) that I would prefer the flavor imparted by the barrel, as I do with whiskey.
Yes, only the Chilean variety allows aging in wooden barrels. I’ve only had one variety of Chilean pisco, and I only liked it mixed, as it just tasted like ethanol on its own. Maybe I just had a bad brand.
It’s very interesting that you think the barrel-aged spirit is the one that tastes like ethanol. Typically that’s how people describe unaged spirits like moonshine. You might try a cognac or an armagnac, as those are also brandies.
Wisconsinites swear by their brandy old fashioneds, if you’re looking for another brandy cocktail.
pisco sours are so good
They are. They taste like fruit juice but must be at least 25-30% alcohol.
you can wow guests you serve them to by getting a small spray bottle for angostura bitters, cutting out a template, and spraying bitters-based artwork or messages on top of the foam
yes. rip to your old personality
Death to America
Yes. It’s called being a guy.
There are places where pisco is considered niche? Sad
I never heard about it when I lived in the UK. I currently live in Japan, and although there are some places that serve it in major cities, there seems to be only one bar that specializes in it. Even that bar seems to sell more shochu than pisco, so I would say it’s quite niche here.
It’s niche in the US and when they have any it’s usually Chilean
and when they have any it’s usually Chilean
Sad wea noises
You obviously have to host pisco-themed parties and get-togethers. Make sure you have multiple varieties of pisco and that you have different sour mixes like chicha and maracuya and mango
Only if you’re
I’m only half white. Am I not pure enough to become an insufferable elitist?
it’s not that, it’s that basing your entire personality around a niche alcoholic beverage strikes me as something lame enough that only white dudes do it
not judging you though, I’m so lame I dont have a personality
Never had it, but does it taste anything like sake?
With sake there’s this strange flavor which also sort of appears in Shaoxing wine, but is foreign to any european alcohols. It tastes so good, I honestly can’t stand grape wine but I could drink sake like it’s water
No, it’s nothing like sake/nihonshu. I would describe it as a fairly mild tasting spirit with a fruity or herbal flavor depending on the variety. Some people say it tastes like grappa. Peruvian pisco is technically a brandy, but they can’t be aged in wooden barrels or anything that can affect it’s taste, so it tastes unlike any brandy I’ve ever had.
